Brand Rezonance

Naming a start-up business is a major decision and demands tremendous importance. The name becomes the company’s brand. A company’s name is its first impression and it definitely has to be impressive and appealing. The name chosen is just not merely a name, it represents the company and serves as a link to the customer’s mind and forms perceptions about the organization.

Consumers may look on branding as an important value-added aspect of products or services, as it often serves to denote a certain attractive quality or characteristic. Brand names will fall into one of three spectrums of use - Descriptive, Associative or Freestanding. Descriptive brand names assist in describing the distinguishable selling point(s) of the product to the customer. Associative brand names provide the customer with an associated word for what the product promises to do or be. Freestanding brand names have no links or ties to either descriptions or associations of use.

But what are our options to zero in on a particular brand name that has appeal, drives the brand power and connects to the consumer’s mind?

The easiest option would be to pay a specialist branding company to come up with a name. This may or may not be the perfect name for the business, but it certainly is an expensive option. Another method would be to randomly throw around names between friends and family and select the ones which seem appealing and stand out the most. This is a very crude method and does not require much logic and research.

A more refined approach would be to do some serious targeted research on the internet and find out exactly what people on the internet search for. If people are searching for specific words/terms, then surely it would make sense to adopt those words when naming a business. Software tools such as name generator, keyword selector can be extensively used to identify and also look for synonyms for the same. Unusual names or names with rarely used letters such as ‘Z’ easily attract people’s attention and builds curiosity to learn about the brand.

A background check needs to be done once a few names have been finalized. Background check helps in identifying the availability of the name and ownership of the brand. If the brand name is available it needs to get registered as quickly as possible. Another good idea is to buy a domain of the same name if possible.

Therefore the new brand name must resonate with the target market. Naming tends to be a somewhat different process for small businesses versus large corporations, but the basic premise remains the same-the brand must be consistent, crisp and clear in the target mind. It is evident that developing a brand name isn’t a process suited for lunchtime brainstorming or employee naming contests. It’s real work, and should be handled by real experts.

Syed Zohaibullah

Zohaib is a Business Solution Thinker at ReZonant